Minister rules out farmer water buybacks, creates new Murray-Darling Basin compliance office

The Federal Government has committed to not buy any more water from farmers, as an independent review finds a key part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan will not be delivered on time. Key points: Keith Pitt says the Government won't buy any more water from farmers to meet the Basin Plan A new statutory authority will be established to bolster water compliance and break up the MDBA An independent review has found that a key water savings target won't be met by the Basin Plan's 2024 deadline Water Minister Keith Pitt has also promised a $38 million shakeup of policing water rules across the Basin, committing to establishing a new inspector-general of water compliance office. Mr Pitt said the decision to rule out farm buybacks was not in contradiction of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and would not be legislated. About two-thirds of water recovered for the environment under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan has been purchased from irrigators, under "buybacks", with the majority of deals taking place between 2007 and 2014.